VOL. 36 • ISS. 19

You know, this Morning Star Update cries out for a catchy segue. Hmmm...

“ If you always do what you always did, you’ ll always get what you always got.” Nope. Too hillbilly.“ Only change is constant.” No, only

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hearing this dreary cliche over and over is constant.

“ Today is the first day of the rest of your... NO! NO! NO!“ Find a job you love and you’ ll never work a day of your life.” Getting warmer...“ What if I die before I live?” Don’ t think so, this one’ s hitting a little too close to home... I’ ve got it! With apologies to Heraclitus, let’ s take it from the top. Greetings friends, The water flows, the river remains...

After 40 years of“ Reel them up’”“ Drop them down,”“ Follow your fish,”“ No angle, no tangle,”“ Yes, your fish is small but they’ re the best eating size”“ Rocky bottom,”“ Sandy bottom,”“ Keep his head up”( never understood that one),“ No, I don’ t know how the other boats are doing,”“ Yes, I’ d love to hear about the trout you caught,”“ Oh that’ s a nice one.” And leave us not omit the Crown Jewell of party boat babble...

These three anglers had a great time catching halibut on San Francisco Bay aboard the Morning Star.

Photo by GORDON HOUGH.

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“ Oh you should have been here yesterday!!”

Anyway, after 40 years of the aforementioned silliness and oh so much more, I am retiring.

This was anything but a carefully orchestrated departure. The plan was to sell the Morning Star to a talented young Captain who lives in San Rafael, and work with him until he was comfortable with our passengers, business and boat, and then gradually retire.

So much for“ the best laid plans”. The Morning Star future was torpedoed by the Loch Lomond harbormaster( pronounced harborMASTER) who without so much as an explanation told us to“ Get out and don’ t come back.” My reward for 40 years of renting a berth between the fuel dock

Another day fishing aboard the Morning Star, skippered by the now retired Captain Gordon Hough.

Photo by GORDON HOUGH. and the levee, and paying twice as much for fuel as their closest competitors. Do I seem bitter?

To make matters worse, upon our return to Crockett for the winter we discovered our sturgeon fishing home had fallen victim to drugs, despair and disrepair. As a result, we’ ve been exiled to Vallejo ever since.

As this summer approached, the only doable Potluck fishing marinas available were Berkeley and Emeryville. However, fees, commissions and daily traffic jams made those options less than desirable for a couple old geezers set in their ways.

Which brings us to the final dagger in the Morning Star’ s heart, to be filed under“ Denial is not a river in Egypt;” The Morning Star crew is older than dirt! So henceforth, the Morning Star shall be named Sea Spirit and the new owners are doing Whale Watching and Nature Trips in Santa Cruz.

If you’ re curious about the difference, a Nature Trip is a Whale Watching trip that didn’ t spot any whales...

Don’ t you think Morning Star is a better name for a boat than Sea Spirit?

I may be biased. My Mom chose the name Morning Star.

I was going to call my first charter boat“ Bounty”( to honor the famous paper towels) but my Mom always liked the name of the salmon boat I deck handed on as a boy so many, many years ago.

As for Mike Shimel aka Deck Dog, Deck Zombie, Deck Princess, Deck Parolee, Deck

Cross Dresser, Deck

Sept. 1-15, 2017

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FREEDOM 192 GULFSTREAM 232

Prima Donna, Deck Ballerina etc. etc.. who has endured 30 + years of relentless insults with a smile( well, not sure about the smile, but at least he never beat me up), the Deck Kamikaze has purchased the fastest, scariest looking motorcycle you can buy without a pilot’ s license, and is off to explore the lower 48.

Sort of an AARP version of that old Peter Fonda movie Easy Rider.

Any margin of success we’ ve enjoyed over the years was due far more to Mike’ s tireless efforts on the deck than mine sitting in the wheelhouse dreaming up ways to insult him.

In fact, I’ d like to ditch my sophomoric behavior for once and add a personal farewell note from the heart to my best friend Mike Shimel. Before you embark on your cross country

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This woman holds up a halibut that she landed in San Francisco Bay aboard the Morning Star.

Photo by GORDON HOUGH.

adventure my friend, take this happy thought with you;

It only takes a minute to fill out that organ donor card...

Well, that’ s about it. We hope you had some fun on the Morning Star, and the Deck Retiree and I would sincerely like to thank you for allowing us to play through life for all these 40 years. And what could be better than that? Good fishing... I mean... Aloha, Gordon

Hough

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